On Wednesday morning the last of the six hundred and sixteen two years olds catalogued in the three English breeze-up sales galloped alongside the Rowley Mile. During the sixteen days that have elapsed since the first of that group completed the journey, there have been twenty two juvenile races run in England and Scotland. One hundred and seventy horses have contested them. It seems that at this stage of the year there are a lot more people who would like to sell a two years

…if I had a position of note in the alcoholic drinks industry, I would spend my advertising budget taking out an injunction and challenging the legality of calling a non-alcoholic venue a “BAR”. This is oxymoronic, though not as extreme as a Cheese and Onion Pasty, which is just moronic. Rachael, darling of a generation of impressionable punters and (unusually for an icon) deserving of the admiration, has dropped her stick here. What next? The “Pilgarlic Bar”, after a seriall

The first-crop-sires table continues to whoop up hype beyond its relevance and this fervour has reached a new height this season. There were two very good classic-winning colts in 2022 that unfortunately died before they could enter stud duties. Coroebus and Desert Crown produced emphatic performances when winning at Newmarket and Epsom and had the physique to match. That generation had no other colt to match their credentials. This meant that the best racehorses retiring t

The furore over the possible closure of Kempton Park raised a brief apoplexy among the National Hunt fraternity, but has received little balanced coverage. This is disappointing, as it is an issue that should be at the heart of the health of our sport going forward. In my view Kempton Park should not just be retained as a racecourse, it should be vibrantly redeveloped. We cannot take ourselves seriously as a sport, if we squander the most accessible site we have in the sport.

Recent reportage in the trade media has featured prophecies of doom, (regrettably with legitimate foundations) but there was a very heartening story, which I hope will receive greater coverage. Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah and his brothers have purchased Roundhill Stud in County Limerick. They stated that they hoped to have fifteen to twenty mares and their dream was: “TO BREED A DERBY WINNER.” He acknowledged that this was hard, but it had been the dream since they started raci

A good while ago, I was fortunate enough to know Alfred Vanderbilt, who was the main owner in the stable that I worked at. He was a very...

The final day of Royal Ascot may overshadow a noteworthy sponsor. UNITE: the trades union is associated with a few races at Ayr. Who...

The recent round of breeze-up sales has come to an end at the same time that changes to the conditions of the Windsor Castle Stakes have...

The trash talking between a couple of prominent American based owners provided an amusement to the climax of the European sales season....

A familiar theme of this column is to reassert the racing horse before the breeding cart. The reverse has been a repeated error...

Unpalatable though it may be, sometimes one must eat humble pie. The admirable Charyn has forced it down my throat this season. I can not...

Before the advent of unlimited books of mares, it was usual to sell stallion prospects off of the racecourse to syndicates formed in the...

One of the foremost scourges of modern society is the promotion of style over substance. One of the worst failings of racing's leadership...

The first round of yearling sales have been conducted and the perception is that the market is falling. At least, that is what we say Up...

The midsummer showpieces have been run and, as usual, several of the best performances have come from Ballydoyle inmates. They should be...

The Triple Crown is the Holy Grail of the sport and hasn’t been won for more than seventy years. That should make it more desirable, not...

“In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.” Tuesday opened with a renewal of The Queen Anne Stakes described as “far from...

Germany’s initiative to impose a ban on racing animals less than thirty months of age has been met with a range of reaction from disdain...

The Pattern was first implemented in 1971, with a total of 18 Group One races. The proliferation of black type opportunities has not...